ambush

London, UK

Hong Kong Day & Night

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While in Hong Kong - combining fun & work -  it's an interesting journey to get a proper look at Asian web design. Due to Hong Kong's heavy focus on finance and business, there seems to be a noticable lull in creative web design. Most Chinese websites are still incredibly static.

But.. while heavy snow and subzero temperatures sweep across Europe, closing major airports in Britain, weather is pretty near perfect here. Like night and day.

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Cheeky Graffiti 2: Bortusk Leer

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A while back I posted some pictures of these manga style paste-ups popping up on Brick Lane. Very cute and appealing, I called them Cheeky Paste-Ups. One of them had a name running vertically alongside: Bortusk Leer.

 

I happened to be in New York a couple of weeks ago and visited a friend who lives in Brooklyn. Bortusk Leer is travelling too. His cheeky paste-ups suddenly appeared when I turned a corner in some non-descript street in Williamsburg. It oozed of something strangely familiar. The kind of feeling you'd get on spotting your grandma's wallpaper in a B&B in some remote place.

 

Today I found out his work is currently for sale at the Brick Lane Gallery in London. The artists's beautiful yet somewhat alienating name of Bortusk Leer- and a fake one of course - is really used by the artist to sell his work. Most of it is the very same little naive figures spray painted directly onto crappy newspapers although it seems he is also venturing into 3D collages on real canvas. Not hanging up in the gallery itself but in the adjacent tiny back-office space. I'm not convinced yet whether that will work for him. But, as one of the many street artist winding their way into galleries, I'm glad to find his little monsters there too.

It's not a Banksy - it's a Beechey!

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It's not often a muse wanders by.

While Ruth and I were sipping on a cappacino in Primrose Hill last week, Mrs Beechey strolled by with her shopping. After 52 years of manning the fort at Welsh’s hardware store in Regent’s Park Road, June Beechey decided it was time to retire. Since she's something of a beloved institution in PH, a number of people asked for her photo outside the shop - and suddenly a stencilled life-size image of a lady brandishing a light bulb and teapot has popped up all over North London... from Primrose Hill to Kentish Town and Archway.

Banksy says it's not his.

She must have had a secret admirer.

The accompanying anti-war slogan  is an issue close to her heart. She said: “Make tea not war is something I’d agree with – although I prefer a nice cup of coffee.”

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June Beechey with her portrait spray-painted on the wall to the right

Pharao in the window

Beautiful doggie in the window! This particular breed is called the 'Pharaoh Hound' which of course sparks the imagination. Who wouldn't love to purchase a direct ancestor stemming from Egyptian culture with all of its mystery, style and elegance? Many breeders and breed clubs still promote this breed as "the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Hound."

In fact, the "Egyptian Myth" has been thoroughly disproved—both historically and genetically. Little is done by the breed clubs to reeducate the public. Nationally televised dog shows in the U.S. introduce the breed as "the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Hound", the description provided by the national breed club. This raises a major ethical issues of deceptive advertising where puppy buyers are told they are purchasing an ancient Egyptian breed when in fact they are a rabbit hunting hound from Malta used for a traditional style of hunting.

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